How can you improve your toddler's motor skills?

The toddler months are so crucial in terms of child development and learning, and every mom wants to do her best to encourage her child's growth. What are some great tips you can share that helped improve your toddler's motor skills?

19 Answers

By Dahlia Bone
- Posted on Oct 25, 2011

617

I have been researching free preschool materials and tips online. Many of them have hundreds of printouts to choose from on a wide variety of topics to improve math, reading, drawing, thinking skills.
I've printed some out and laminated them for multiple usage.
Below are some good sites with lots of free material.
http://www.abchomepreschool.com/
http://www.first-school.ws/
http://www.preschoolactivitybox.com/

they are toddlers let them be toddlers they will pick it all up. Let them help you, let them get messy and be creative.

6

By Sabina Damone
- Posted on Oct 25, 2011

142

Cooking, baking, kneading, rolling dough, stirring. Plus you'll be working on math skills at the same time. If you write the ingredients out, they can help read it and work on learning numbers and fractions. What is more fun than cooking with mom!

6

By Sue Meyer
- Posted on Nov 1, 2011

217

The answer is stack blocks, I know it sounds simple. It helps them in so many ways. While stacking say what are we building. Then say wow look what you just did. What did you make? Maybe a castle.
Just making an interaction with your child is very helpful in learning.

3

By Jennifer Kuester
- commented on Nov 2, 2011

2030

Very true and when we go to the grocery store, we play EYE SPY, my daughter is 3 and my son is 19 months old! So I will say something like who can find a "RED _______" Or a square. Not only does it encourage language skills and cognitive skills it gets us in and out of the grocery store without many tears!

By Melissa Harding
- Posted on Jan 2, 2012

60

Encuraging them to dress themselves, "Use both hands to put your shoes on" and praise their efforts. it does take longer for them to do, but adults need to remember we all started not knowing, and learning to zip up your own jacket or do your own button is a huge accomplishment for young children. self help skills like washing their hands, cleaning their face and getting their own drink are all very important skills which toddlers love to learn-they learn through repetition and these are all things which adults usually do for them. lets empower and respect toddlers that they are competent, confident and capable!

1

By Hoffman Hoffman
- Posted on Nov 9, 2011

00

I am a preschool teacher and one the children ove to do is play in the sensory tub. It is a wonderful idea to work your childs fine motor skils and eye hand coordination. We sometimes will put in water with bubbles to wash babies. (Add a litttle to food coloring if you want to work on colors too). Or put cups, or anything to fill and pour! Rice is fun, but can be messy, beans, little magnatic balls with a magnetic wand. (make sure nothing is a choking hazard.) Playdough and plydough scissors to practice cutting playdough. Also tracing letters and lines is a great fine motor skill and prewritng skill! Sooooo many wonderful easy ideas!

1

By jenni browne
- commented on Nov 10, 2011

8010

thanks you have just fineline the things I do now! Didn't think of cutting playdoh for practise or tracing letters/numbers, we do hand lol thanks again any more tips would be great!

By Julie Sullivan
- Posted on Nov 16, 2011

23530

Just putting them in an environment where they have to try to do things. Don't get things for them. Put things around them far enough away that they have to work to get them, but not so far that they get frustrated and give up. Taking them to the playground or indoor playplaces at a fast food restaurant and letting them play. Rolling a ball back and forth. Just always supervise because they are still developing those muscles and coordination and can get seriously hurt in an instant. When helping them to climb etc. give just enough support, but make sure they are mostly doing it themselves.

0

By maikoolangar
- Posted on Nov 12, 2011

00

toys will help your toddlers developed their motor skills. whichever , they will provide manipulation and stimulation be it motor or cognitive skills

0

By Tara Kachmar-Boreham
- Posted on Nov 11, 2011

27

The best way to improve motor skills is to take your kids to the park and let them climb on ladders, swing on the bars, crawl through tunnels, and pump their legs on swings. It's free, it's fun and you can bond with your child through play.

0

By jenni browne
- Posted on Nov 10, 2011

8010

We got given cardboard dolls that you dress using shoe laces to thread thru the clothes and body. It's great and they love it, you can make your own out of cardboard, paint it up (or get your child to help) and buy shoe laces and go sewing. Helps with shoe laces later in life and great start to sewing! Watch what your child holds interest in and use that as a guide to how to develop them without forcing. eg. my child always love the water so we do swimming, she loves taking pictures so she is getting a camera that works. Selecting toys that have practical functions I think is a great way to go! My child uses a tag off clothing as her mobile phone lol (I couldn't find one that wasn't stupid), she came to that idea by herself and I encourage imagination 100%, sometimes if you give them everything what else is left for them to do?

The best way to improve your child's motor skills is to get them involved in the arts as early as you can, at first home-guided and then placed with an experienced arts educator. Mind you that does not mean just "anyone" should be entrusted with your child's creative and motor skill development. As a champion of the arts in education movement and a dance educator of over 27years, I encourage every young family to look for a QUALIFIED dance educator to guide the development of their child's sensory discernment, one-to-one correspondence, guided motor coordination and integrated preoperational skills for learning. All of these foundational elements can be generated in a one hour per week experiential movement class when enhanced with at home music interaction, guided play, free play and visual arts exploration. It is never to early to begin to help your child develop brain to body connections for movement through time and in space. This is who we are as humans; movers who occupy, share and move through time and space. We must learn to use our instruments of life (bodies) wisely from the beginning!

0

By Maureen Aresco
- Posted on Nov 9, 2011

00

Gymnastic classes is a great way to improve your toddler's motor skills and it also introduces them to a class setting.... IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A PROGRAM IN THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY CALL: Caffery's Dance and Gymnastics School. Brand New Facility located 140-5 Main Street Middletown ,CT Metro Square. 860-346-5678 Or email dancer191@comcast.net. Free trial classes.

0

By gena francis
- Posted on Nov 9, 2011

08

Flash cards worked for me and constantly talking to them and letting them help me cook clean or whatever I was doin both my girls r very smart and way above their age in development I am now teaching my one year old how to count n recognize numbers andletters by using her favorite snacks!

0

By Lyndi Moauro
- Posted on Nov 9, 2011

00

I try to make every chance we can a learning opportunity in the line at the grocery store I have my almost 3 year old (3 weeks) point out a color or ask what letter it is…..then I make a big deal about it and she thinks its fun. We have been introducing colors and letters for months now so she knows a lot. She knows ¾ of her letters by sight and can count to 20. She knows all her colors even black white and gray. She can spell her name and knows her entire name. She is so smart and LOVES to learn and showoff….I try to teach her a lot so it is second nature for her. Make learning fun and they will want to do it!

0

By Fleur Barr
- Posted on Nov 9, 2011

117

How can you reduce it and where is the Off Switch!!!?!? lol xxxx

0

By Jayne Innes
- Posted on Nov 8, 2011

00

Don't forget about physical things like hopscotch, beanbags and rolling.

0

By marissa morris
- Posted on Nov 7, 2011

190

Blocks, clay or playdough, and coloring are all good ways to strengthen the motor skils. Scissors (safty scissors) also help. Pretty much anything that they do meticulously. Pattern blocks are good magnetic letters and numbers, bath letters and numbers that. Stick on the wall. Always make it funthey don't need to be right or perfect at that age. More often than not they will get it on their own God gave tham the ability you have to give them the opportunity.

0

By Amie Bristow
- Posted on Nov 2, 2011

4850

everyday activities-climbing stairs, colouring, puzzles, bead mazes, playing with play dough, feeding themselves, etc helps with fine motor and gross motor development! Encouraging them to do things themselves helps develop motor skills instead of doing it for them. They love to mimic what you do, so get in there and play with them. As nerve racking as it is to let them go up and down stairs by themselves, they won't learn unless you let them do it!

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